545. Burnham Beats Reform: Britain’s Next Prime Minister?

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The Rest Is Politics 42 min 2 speakers 7 chapters transcribed 2 months ago
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What does Andy Burnham's victory in Makerfield mean for the Labour Party?

Alastair Campbell 0:01
Labour have won the crucial by-election in Makerfield and they have won it big. Nearly 25,000 votes for Andy Burnham, 55% of all ballots cast. These are normally words that would delight the leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. But it was in effect Andy Burnham's application to the Labour Party to oust Keir Starmer and put him into Downing Street instead. So, does this thumping victory, won in an area where reform battered Labour in the local elections in May, spell the end of the Starmer Premiership? How has it come to this and what happens next?

How did Andy Burnham secure a 55% vote share in Makerfield?

Alastair Campbell 0:39
Also, what does the big win for the Tories in Aberdeen South against the SNP mean for the UK and Scottish government's policies on energy? It was quite a night in British politics.
Rory Stewart 0:52
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What implications does Burnham's win have for Keir Starmer's leadership?

Alastair Campbell 2:50
The link is in the episode description.
Alastair Campbell 3:01
Welcome to The Rest Is Politics with me, Rory Stewart. And me, Alistair Campbell. So Rory, Andy Burnham has won and he has won big.

How does the Tory win in Aberdeen affect Scottish energy policy?

Rory Stewart 3:10
Amazing. So just to put it in context, this is the by-election in Makerfield. And this was prime reform territory. So two thirds of voters in this constituency had voted for Brexit. And in the local elections very recently, just a few weeks ago, Labour were 20 points behind reform. So reform could have won the seat comfortably. But Andy Burnham has won this with a 20 point lead. He's increased his party vote share by 10. And this is Something right against the national trend. So as you, I'm sure, are going to get on to Aberdeen South, as you mentioned, is now Labour went down 19 points and it went down 18 points in Arbraith, but it went 10 points up in this constituency with Andy Burnham. And he basically wiped out the Greens, the Lib Dems and the Conservatives.
Rory Stewart 4:04
The Greens, Lib Dems got about 1%, Conservatives got about 2% and even Restore and Reform together. wouldn't have been enough to beat him. So it's looking very, very strong. There are some caveats around the corner, but pretty strong. Back over to you.
Alastair Campbell 4:19
Yeah, I think a lot of the, when you talk about the two Scottish by-elections, which were caused by former Westminster MPs winning seats in the Holyrood Parliament in the recent Scottish elections, I think a lot of tactical voting going on there and a lot of tactical voting to stop reform

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